Fairfield Selectwoman Sherri Steeneck Recalls Her Fight for Equality in the Early Days of Girls' Sports Programs at Andrew Warde High School

A recent feature story on the front page of the Connecticut Post sports section highlighted the undefeated Fairfield Warde girls' basketball team. The Lady Mustangs have built an impressive record and have aspirations of winning the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference title and state championship this year.

However, girls' sports weren't always on the same playing field with the boys over three decades ago. According to a story which appeared in the Bridgeport Post in January of 1975, "The expenditures for girls' athletic programs at Andrew Warde High School are substantially less than the funds spent for boys' programs, and also substantially less than the funds for boys' programs at Roger Ludlowe High School."

The data was made available by the school administration, and it indicated that of $43,408 allocated for sports at Warde, only $5,500 was spent for girls' athletics. A sum of $51,032 was allocated for the entire sports program at Roger Ludlowe High School, with $10.949 earmarked for the girls and $40,083 for the boys.

The figures were compiled as a result of a request made by Sherri Steeneck, a high school student for the equalization of the sports program for girls at both schools. Thirty-four years later, Steeneck remembers when times were very different .

"I remember going to Little League and Pop Warner games to watch my brother play when he was in elementary school," Steeneck told me today via email. "As I think back about it, that is probably because there was nothing publicly organized for girls. They didn't have T-ball, Little League, soccer, or lacrosse for girls. In fact, they didn't have soccer or lacrosse for anyone. People didn't think heavily about girls sports.

"It wasn't until high school that I really was introduced to girls sports outside of gym class," continued Steeneck, currently serving a four-year term on the Fairfield Board of Selectmen. "I tried out for the volleyball team." She said that former volleyball coach Ed Bengermino recalled a meeting of the gym teachers and coaches where Steeneck's name was mentioned as having gone to the Board of Ed asking for equal funding, specifically for volleyball.

Steeneck revealed the real reason she tried out for the volleyball team, however. "I wish I could tell you that there was this great love of volleyball that got me there, but actually, a boy I liked was setting balls for the girls," she admitted. "One of my friends who was trying out told me to come. I went the next day, and he never returned. I made the team!"

That's when she saw first-hand the discrepancy between the girls' and boys' sports programs at Warde, and how the girls' program paled in comparison to the rest of the league. "At the games we had nets that were left over from gym class," she pointed out. "They sagged and we twisted the nets around the polls to tighten them up. Our volleyballs were beat, too. The boys got the good ones." The girls also didn't have any uniforms.

"I still didn't think too much about this until we played against other teams," Steeneck continued. "They had quality nets, balls, and uniforms. I started to think about it and realized that all of the boys teams had quality equipment and uniforms."

According to the article and the figures compiled, it was estimated that even if the girls' sports were kept at the same level in the 1974-75 fiscal year and four proposed sports were added at Warde, the Warde girls expenditures would still be less than that spent at Ludlowe.

It was also estimated that $4,375 --- the cost of the added programs --- would rise to $9,875, the amount set for Warde girls. This would still be $1,000 less than the amount allocated for girls at Ludlowe.

"Ludlowe girls had most of the things we didn't have," observed Steeneck, pictured as a junior in the AWHS Flame yearbook. "(Ludlowe had) more teams and better equipment. The rumor amongst the students was that Warde had better scholastic programs, and that Ludlowe had better athletic programs. I don't know how true that was." So that's when Steeneck decided it was time to take action.

"Title 9 was just coming to the forefront, and I had to go before the Board of Ed to ask for equal funding for girls sports," she recalled. "I do remember being ridiculed a bit, called a rabble rouser, a women's libber! I guess that was sort of the start of my political career," said Steeneck, a Democrat, who joined Fairfield First Selectman Ken Flatto and Republican Ralph Bowley on the board.

"The ridicule was uncomfortable, but it didn't last more than a few months, probably the length of time it took to get through the approval process," she continued. "The Board really couldn't say 'no' because Title 9 was a federal mandate," she acknowledged. "But, I guess they could have cut some money from the boys teams to make the two equal. Title 9 was the turning point to how most of us thought about women's sports. I just called them on it."

Steeneck said the ultimate improvements to the girls' sports programs helped their image and self-esteem. "It amazes me as to how getting the right equipment and uniforms can bring things up a notch," she added, "improving the quality of the program and the way both the participants thought about themselves and the spectators thought about the players. It all happened because of Title 9."

Steeneck, who graduated in 1977 and is pictured above wearing number 10 next to Coach Bengermino, was a part of the unforgettable 1976 Warde volleyball squad as a junior. The team got off to a tremendous start by winning its four matches in shutout fashion. The Lady Eagles won their fifth match, 2-1, against rival Ludlowe, before falling to Stamford's Westhill High School, 2-1. The team won its next nine matches, eight of which were shutouts, to finish with a 14-1 record heading into the league playoffs.

The squad lost the FCIAC title to Westhill, then entered the CIAC tournament ranked third in the state. In the first round of the double-elimination tournament, the girls beat Buckley soundly, but in the second and third rounds they were defeated by Maloney and Ludlowe. These losses eliminated them from further competition, and dropped them to fifth in the final standings.

But, the volleyball program and girls' sports were building a solid foundation for the future, thanks in no small part to Sherri Steeneck.

Paul

Please sign the AWHS Guest Book.

Visit the Andrew Warde High School Gift Shop.

Watch the AWHS 1976 vintage "film".